Commercialism
Commercialism is one of the end results of the original S Project , in which it plays a major role in the series. Due to the fact that even low-level superpowers are costly to maintain, the modern hero is usually sponsored by a corporation or business, thereby becoming a 'commerical hero.' As such, the public believes that a hero is someone who represents a product or a service being offered by the company he/she represents. This mindset becomes integrated into society and the proliferation of these heroes become a common sight. When the Hero Association began making low-level superpowers available to the public and regulating those powers with licenses, it wasn't long before corporations began seeing the potential of using heroes as their spokespeople. As a result, they began to register with the Association in order to have these superpowered representatives promote their businesses and increase publicity. As a result, the term 'hero' becomes synonomous with marketing, and many heroes become nothing more than glorified mascots. And it is also seen that the bigger the company, the more likely the hero is higher in the rankings. Furthermore, once a 'hero' becomes sponsored by a company, he/she becomes subservient to the company's regulations. Above all, the hero must do whatever the company wants, unless the hero happens to be self-sponsored. Additionally, he/she cannot do anything to make his/her sponsor look bad as they would be treated basically like any other employee and would be fired. For commercial heroes, the sponsor is everything to them and should the company go under, (ie: bankruptcy), then the hero becomes virtually useless. Since these 'commerical heroes' have become valid sources of income for businesses, the very act of making money is also a way of promoting the hero through the ranks. If a company becomes more prosperous, then the hero can afford to get more power and equipment, thereby upgrading to the next rank. However, like the very act of heroics, this can also lead to a lack of altruism that a hero is supposed to have and many individuals may put promoting one's company before the safety of the public and the maintenance of law and order. Mr. Carsonbo is an example of this as he suddenly begins offering his company's insurance policies in the middle of an accident. Some other heroes, such as Monsieurlin and Mr. Niku, don't even involve themselves with heroics and just use the 'hero theme' to make their businesses look more attractive. For those who do get involved with heroics, in most cases, there's a financial motive, such as rescuing potential customers or seeing it as a chance to display their company's products. Of course, there's the incentive of rising through the ranks by performing a certain number of these so-called 'good deeds.' Despite all of these marketing schemes, there are exceptions such as Fatman. Even though he was initially happy to stay as an E-Rank and just promote his family's business, he wasn't afraid to jump into the line of fire to try and catch Ratman when he was falling, protect his sister from a robber, or even help out his rival Mr. Big Horn when he was driven mad by the Hero Booster Program. Other examples of truly heroic people are Randolman and the Akiba Holy Girls . It is these very few individuals that convince Shuto that real heroism is not dead, thereby disproving Ankaiser's inital comment that heroes 'die' the moment they sign up with the corporations. Category:Ranking Advancement Category:Ranks